Wellington rally demands freedom for Julian Assange

The Socialist Equality Group (New
Zealand) took part in a rally in Wellington on Sunday called
by Free Assange NZ, a group of WikiLeaks supporters.
Protesters gathered outside the US embassy and marched to
the nearby British High Commission.

About 25 people joined
the rally, called to protest last week’s illegal arrest of
the WikiLeaks editor. British police physically dragged him
from the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had been
confined for nearly seven years. Ecuador’s government of
Lenin Moreno rescinded Assange’s asylum, in violation of
Ecuador’s own laws, and handed him over for extradition to
the US.

The Trump administration wants to put Assange on
trial for the “crime” of publishing leaked documents
revealing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, including
the horrific “Collateral Murder” video showing the
gunning down of journalists and civilians in Iraq.

The
rally was part of international protests, including in
Britain, Germany and the US, demanding the release of
Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who remains in
prison for refusing to testify against the WikiLeaks
publisher. In Australia, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP)
held powerful rallies in Sydney and Melbourne last Friday.
Central to the SEP’s election campaign is the fight to
mobilise the working class to force the Australian
government to intervene to secure Assange’s safe return to
Australia.

Leading SEG member Tom Peters addressed the
Wellington protest, warning that “the threat of
extradition means Assange’s life is in danger. No one
should have any illusions about that. As soon as he gets to
the US, he will undoubtedly face more charges including
espionage charges which carry the death penalty. That is
what the Obama and the Trump administrations have been
preparing.

“Democrats and Republicans alike are out for
blood,” Peters said, denouncing the lie that Assange
worked with Russia to manipulate the US election. The aim of
the anti-Russia propaganda “is to prepare for war and
justify censoring the Internet, while covering up what
WikiLeaks actually revealed: that Clinton is a stooge of the
Wall Street banks and a war criminal who gloated about the
destruction of Libya, and that the Democratic Party rigged
the primaries in her favour.”

Peters explained that the
New Zealand Labour Party-led government was complicit in the
persecution of Assange. Last year the government refused to
even discuss a petition presented by Free Assange NZ calling
for him to be offered asylum in New Zealand.

“No one
should believe the propaganda that Jacinda Ardern’s
government is kind and compassionate,” Peters said.
“Ardern is not ‘anti-Trump’ as the media portrays her.
Her government has dramatically strengthened the alliance
with Washington.”

The SEG leader noted that the
Labour-Greens-NZ First coalition had continued New
Zealand’s participation in the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and had further strengthened the alliance with
US imperialism in preparation for future wars, including
against China.

Peters said the government was exploiting
the March 15 Christchurch terrorist attack, in which fascist
Brenton Tarrant killed 50 Muslim worshippers, to censor
social media and increase surveillance. The real target of
such measures was not fascism—the product of xenophobia
and racism whipped up by the ruling elite to divide
workers—but the working class.

“Freedom to publish,
discuss and share information is vital for the working class
as it seeks to fight back against austerity and imperialist
war,” Peters said, pointing to the eruption of strikes and
mass protests by workers in the US, France, Mexico, India,
Algeria and other countries over the past year. “In New
Zealand there have been nationwide strikes by doctors,
nurses, teachers, and other workers shifting to the left as
a result of poverty and inequality.”

The ruling class
was responding to the threat from below “with the methods
of the 1930s: war, dictatorship and fascism,” Peters said.
He called for the fight to defend WikiLeaks and Assange to
be taken up by the working class internationally as an
essential part of the fight for socialism.

Members and
supporters of the Socialist Equality Group distributed the
statement “Free Julian Assange!” and spoke to
several people at the protest.

Tom, a
student and organiser of the International Youth and
Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at Victoria University
of Wellington, said: “Assange and Manning showed the world
the brazen crimes and lies of the world’s elite. To the
‘insiders’ and the powerful, letting people know the
truth is unforgivable. If we want to preserve democratic
freedoms and the right to know what our governments are
doing in our names, we will have to fight for those rights.
The powerful will not be reasoned with. Capitalist
governments of all kinds are building their powers for a
continued assault on the working class. Our only option is
revolution.”

Ben, a tradesman, said the
media had tried to “assassinate the character” of
Assange in order to discount everything WikiLeaks had
revealed. He said Trump was doing “the same stuff,” as
previous US presidents “but in a more belligerent
fashion,” without regard for international law.

Ben
added that Assange “is an Australian, why are
Australia’s government not going: ‘Hold on, you’ve
illegally detained one of our citizens!’ Why aren’t they
doing anything about it?”

Heidi said
WikiLeaks has “just been doing journalism and they’ve
never had to retract any of their stories. He’s been
imprisoned for doing journalism and telling the truth about
what the US government is doing.” She described the
attacks on Assange for helping “Russian interference” as
“a conspiracy theory. That’s just the Democratic Party
trying to put the blame for losing to Donald Trump on
someone else: ‘It’s Russia’s
fault!’”

Annabelle, a mother of four,
originally from Britain, said she came to the protest after
following WikiLeaks for years and being shocked by the video
of Assange being manhandled out of the Ecuadorian embassy.
“The industrial murder machine is getting worse and
worse,” she said. “It’s a frightening world and I want
some truth out there. The mainstream media want me to know
things and I want to question that and find other
sources.”

Annabelle praised Chelsea Manning, saying,
“Good on her for not talking. She went through hell for
how many years? And she went back to prison and is still not
talking. She’s brave.”

She said the cheers by UK Prime
Minister Theresa May and other politicians over Assange’s
arrest “sicken me,” and continued: “There isn’t a
parliament, there isn’t a democracy… It doesn’t matter
who’s in power, they’re still working for wars,
they’re still working for the
money-holders.”

Annabelle said there were some things
she liked about UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but added
that “none of them can be trusted,” and that Corbyn was
“backtracking” on his support for Assange. Corbyn is
calling for Assange to be extradited to “answer”
allegations of rape in Sweden—a frame-up that has long
been discredited—which would merely be a step towards his
extradition to the
US.

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